Kibbutz, Local, Regional, and Israeli Judaism

Culture and Judaism in the kibbutz are intertwined - in local, regional, and national circles. ‘Kibbutz Judaism' existed from the very beginning of the kibbutz, but was only defined in detail at the start of the twenty-first century, and is still grounded on kibbutz traditions from the past. In secular kibbutzim it is ‘mediated’ by variables of education, culture, and community; this is particularly the case for new residents, including kibbutz-born, who come in search of community life and good education for their children, which includes celebrating Jewish holidays and rituals. It also holds true for absorption in religious kibbutzim, with similar motives but Orthodox in character.

                                    Relatively few activities take place in the regional circle, where kibbutz members, especially the veteran ones, get together (under the auspices of regional colleges) with village and city residents in their vicinity. The target populations are diverse and the prevailing spirit is secular/pluralistic Judaism and ‘Jewish renewal’, in major centres of activity in the Religious Kibbutz Movement.

                                    In the national circle, generational, institutional, and movement differences are discernible. The most prominent centres are those in Oranim Teachers College, BINA in Efal, and also by means of some associations of the urban kibbutzim and the new communal groups, and the two Kibbutz Festival Institutions. In the collective and renewed kibbutzim, only a handful of members are creatively involved and teach ‘renewing Judaism’; the majority are only consumers of it. The main impact of ‘kibbutz Judaism’ since the 1970s (in religious kibbutzim too) is directed outwards, through frameworks founded by kibbutz members in the present or past. And yet, still today we can learn from the kibbutz, in its three Jewish circles, contents, some methods and means for implementation within and beyond kibbutzim.